Mission Education Goes Virtual

Serving virtually is not new. Way back in April, volunteers scattered across the US logged into Zoom to converse in English with learners in three time zones on two continents. Said program has only expanded since and is currently seeking volunteers for a Winter cohort to begin in January 2021. 

Last week, though, Courtney & I, the LAC region, the Office of International Mission, and the LCMS debuted something never truly offered before by picking up a traditionally on-field experience and plopping it in front of a computer screen: an online short-term team. 

What? Let that sink in for a second.  

An online short-term team. One of our favorite "project" types in LAC is mission education. Participants travel to a particular field (we've only done this in the DR to-date but plan to offer it elsewhere soon) for a week of immersion in as many aspects of local and regional ministry and as much facetime with missionaries and national partners as possible.

Inspired by Missions Unpacked, an upcoming, 100% online, global experience dreamed up by the short-term workgroup of which I'm a part, Courtney & I put our heads together and determined we could make an intensive, DR-specific offshoot work. 

Fast forward a few months, and three lovely ladies - one from IL and two from ME - committed to spending 12 hours on Zoom with us over the course of five days. Of course yours truly documented it from start to (almost) finish, so if you're struggling to wrap your head around the concept, keep scrolling. 

Wednesday - Friday: 2-hour, themed evening sessions, each of which began with a devotion and ended with a debrief

Regional Director Rev. Ted Krey helped set the stage right off the bat with an eagle's eye overview. Following, participants heard the story of how God led Rev. Yban Navarro into the pastoral ministry, straight from the horse's mouth (er...mine as I interpreted). 

Thursday's session highlighted mercy. Deac. Danelle Putnam laid the Scriptural groundwork of mercy's connection to church planting, which segued into a meet & greet with another missionary deaconess, a deaconess intern, and a deaconess student. 

And finally, the spotlight swiveled to shine on education. Participants [virtually] toured Concordia Lutheran School in Palmar Arriba (including meeting chaplain Rev. Idjon Fritz, above)...

...[virtually] toured Concordia the Reformer Seminary and Mercy Center...

...and got the inside scoop on what it's like to be a student at an international seminary. 

Saturday: Morning and afternoon cultural sessions, with a 2-hour break in between

Saturday morning, I hopped from house to house taking "behind-the-scenes" photos of the Preuses, Warrens, and Kreys welcoming participants into their homes and daily routines. 

 

The Warren girls taught participants a song in Spanish. 

The Kreys treated participants to a rendition of the Ofertorio (Offertory), which the oldest two kids typically accompany on violin and guitar, respectively, at church. 

The morning session concluded with an agricultural tour of the Kreys' backyard from Tías, a budding (no pun intended) botanist specializing in tropical flora. 

 

Seminarian Rafael and Regional Life Coordinator Jamielynn should start a cooking show! On Saturday afternoon, they walked participants through how to make a typical pica pollo platter: fried chicken, "Rafa's rice," plantains two ways, and fresh fruit. And you can't share a meal without first learning a Spanish table prayer!

Sunday: Livestreamed worship service (well, that was the idea anyway!) and wrap-up 

(I must have too busy basking in the insightful comments and desire to dig deeper on the part of all three participants to even take a screenshot of our final session together. #fail)

Do I wish we would have had a larger cohort? Perhaps, but I'm thrilled just the same with our foray into the unknown and eager to repeat and reimagine it in different ways, even beyond the pandemic. Coming as close as we've come since February to hosting volunteers on the field filled and energized me; I looked forward with joyful anticipation to joining the participants on screen each evening. I'm deeply grateful for their open-minded commitment and eager to watch God use all that they absorbed for His glory in ways beyond our imagination.

Until next time, blessings!